The Water Victoria Environmental Handbook (1989) also listed the macro invertebrates of Victoria's freshwater systems. I have collated a list of those believed to exist in the Watson Creek catchment at that time.

Our trapping and collecting from the School's watercourse may be able to confirm some of that data for 2011, more than 20 years later.

What species have you trapped?
What does this mean for the health of the ecosystem in general and for the quality of the water and the diversity of larger organisms this water course can support?

Benthic Macro Invertebrates of Watsons Creek


The following information was collated by Water Victoria in 1989 and published in their resource: An Environmental Handbook. This data is for the Watsons Creek Catchment at that time. This data represents 4 Phyla, 9 Classes, 16 Orders and 44 Families of the Animal Kingdom – just in the fresh water!



PHYLUM
CLASS
ORDER
FAMILY
Annelida
Hirundinea (leeches)

Not identified

Oligochaeta (worms)

Not identified

Polychaeta (worms)

Not identified
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Acarina
Not identified

Crustacea
Amphipoda (side swimmers)
Ceinidae



Eusiridae



Gammaridae


Cladocera (water fleas)
Daphiniidae


Decapoda (shrimps, prawns and crabs)
Atyidae



Grapsidae



Hymenosomatidae



Parastacidae


Isopoda
Not identified


Pstracoda
Not identified

Insecta
Coleoptera (beetles)
Dytiscidae



Gyrinidae



Helminthidae



Helodidae



Hydrochidae



Hydrophilidae


Collembola (springtails)
Not identified


Diptera (midges, mosquitoes and flies)
Athericadae



Ceratopogonidae



Chironomidae



Culicidae



Simuliidae



Stratiomyidae



Tabanidae


Ephemeroptera (mayflies
Baetidae



Leptophlebiidae


Hemiptera (bugs)
Corixidae



Notonectidae



Velldae


Odonata (dragon and damsel flies)
Coenagrionidae



Lestidae


Trichoptera (caddis flies)
Conoesucidae



Leptoceridae
Mollusca
Bivalvia (mussels)
Veneroida
Sphaeriidae

Gastropoda (snails)
Basommatophora
Amphibolidae



Physidae


Mesogastropoda
Hydrococcidae



Hyrobiidae



Not identified
Platyhelminthes
Turbellaria (flatworms)

Not identified